KIT LENS Challenge #3: Ends 02 Feb 2007

The idea of this challenge is to forget about lenses and get people out there (especially newcomers!) taking photographs with their new Digital Rebel which usually comes with a standard Canon kit lens. The kit lens can take good photos so lets see them!

Each challenge will last about 2 weeks. There are no hard rules on this and it's up to the host's descretion. Two weeks seems to be a good interval though.

DEADLINE FOR THIS CHALLENGE

This challenge will end on Friday the 2nd of February 2007 at midnight GMT.

RULES

You post YOUR BEST image taken with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Kit Lens and Digital Rebel. (Canon EOS 400D/XTi/350D/300D)

Please do not post any pictures that have been entered in a previous Kit Lens Challenge.

The host chooses the winner. The decision of the judge (the Host!) is final. The judge is not eligible. The winner then hosts the next challenge, judges the winner and passes on the baton to that person.

There are no topics. Any picture you've taken with your Digital Rebel and Canon 18-55mm Kit Lens is eligible.

You can do all the post processing you want. Feel free to comment on other contestant's images. If you want someone to leave you a piece of constructive criticism, put an asterix (
) next to the title of the image.

GUIDELINES

When posting your picture, change the Subject of your post to display your name or your picture title. This way, when someone comments (i.e. replies), it will read your photo's title.

Entries should be submitted as a reply to this post, not in a reply or comment to someone else's post. This makes it easier for everyone to distinguish entries from comments and makes it less likely than an entry will be overlooked.

You may enter up to
THREE
pictures, but they should be within a single post. Please limit the size of your entries to conserve bandwidth. 250K or less works well. You may wish to save some of your entries for a different time so choose wisely.

In case a participant posts more than THREE pictures, the host will only consider the first three pictures for the contest. That will save some processing on the host's part. In case that after posting three pictures you decide to put in another entry, clearly state in the post which three pics you want to get considered for the contest. Other pics from you will be considered generous showcasing on your part

Either embed your image in the thread or, if you must, supply a link to it. Keep in mind, however, most people don't want to click to open photos hosted elsewhere (i.e. on your website). Also try and resize your photos prior to posting so they're sized appropriately for viewing without having to scroll (
800 pixels on the longest side works best.)
And how do you embed a picture? I'm glad you asked:

1. While your photo on Pbase (or any other web site) is open, copy the URL address from the address box on your tool bar, then paste it into your reply thread. Add a .jpg extension to get the photo to show up. Click on preview to make sure it's what you want.
Or

2. Right click on the image in Pbase (or where ever you've hosted it), click on "Properties"... highlight the link with the .jpg extension on it and paste it into your message text. Provide any additional information you want.

As a show of courtesy, and to save bandwidth, please remove the original post when replying, so you don't bring back any previous photos.

Remember it's not all just about trying to show clarity or sharpness of the Kit Lens. Be creative and think outside the box. The idea is to show fantastic photographs taken with the kit lens.
Good luck and have fun!

The rules for this challenge read almost exactly as the rules from the previous challenge. I made 3 changes:

1. The restriction on fireworks pictures was removed.

2. Do not submit pictures that were entered in a previous Kit Lens challenge

3. Submit your entry as a reply to the first post, not in a reply or comment to someone else's entry. This makes it easier for everyone to distinguish entries from comments and makes it less likely than an entry will be overlooked.

I've only had the 400D for two weeks (and it's already back at Canon for an LCD repair--separate story) so I didn't have a lot to choose from. But I commute by boat to New York and frequently get some great photo ops as a result.

The first shot was taken on a foggy night on January 5th. We don't see fog that often so it was eery and nice all at once, and certainly provided a wonderfully sensual mood. In PP, I straightened the horizon a bit and opened up the underside of the bridge, and cropped it to a 4:3 ratio.

The second shot was taken January 9th on a cold but crystal clear day. Those looking closely will see that the better shot would have been the next one after the boat was just a bit further south, as I have cut off the very top of the Verizon building with the Manhattan Bridge span. But that next shot was blurry as were most of them that night, as in addition to cold and clear weather, it was windy, exacerbated by the moving boat. In PP, I pushed the curves quite a bit as the only way to keep clarity with the non-IS Kit Lense was to keep the shutter speed short.

Have had my 400D for a couple of days now. Love it to pieces. Mainly been playing around with the depth of field and shutter speed. These are my first two shots to see the light of day.

It's been so darn cold, I just took pics of random household objects: even the kitchen sink. . .

Here's one from my garden.

Used the bundled software to adjust the white balance, saturation and contrast. Both shots were a bit noisy to start off with, so I ran them through Paint Shop Pro (not ideal I know, but I haven't got a lot else right now).

You should have made it mandatory ... that only pics containing EXIF data are allowed to be published. Although EXIF data can easily be altered it probably would help to reduce the amount of those people who cheat

To be honest, if someone is sad enough to cheat in this little challenge they deserve to win to add a little excitement to their lives hehe. Quite apart from that, I haven't figured out what EXIF data is just yet. . .